Hey,

I uploaded this chapter slightly early and was delighted to see that I had gotten a review already!

Thank you to lemonofweirdness for your lovely review and also to brownie_1414 for your support!

iLIKEtheFLOWERS

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or plot except the Elementals. All rights go to Cassandra Clare.

"You?" Julian's mind was blank. He stared at the man in front of him, and saw him start to speak.

But not before a flying blur of Emma flew past him and knocked the figure down.

Emma hit him with all she could, kicking and punching every inch of him that she could reach.

Julian stood, flabbergasted. Sebastian Morgenstern? He was supposed to be dead. Jace Herondale, Clary and Jocelyn Fairchild, Magnus Bane, Lucian Graymark, the Lightwood children- they had all come back from the demon realms with news of his death. Yet, here he was, alive and standing. And Emma was pummelling him. There was blood that was starting to trickle onto the floor. The crimson snapped Julian out of his standstill.

"Emma! Emma, enough! Emma, stop! Emma!"

Julian wrapped his arms around Emma's waist, and pulled her off the white-haired man.

"Let me go! Julian Blackthorn, get your hands off me! I'll kill him! He… he…" Emma crumpled in his arms, tears starting to fall from her face.

Julian pursed his lips. "I know, but…" Why had he stopped her? Why hadn't he just let her kill him just as he had fantasized about long after the war had ended. "… the Clave would have wanted him alive." He finished lamely.

By now, the white-haired man had stood up. He wiped the blood from the corner of his lips and looked at them contemplatively.

"I'm sorry," he said after a while. "About everything."

Emma, who had now dried up her tears, mumbled something that sounded distinctly like, "yeah right".

Julian nudged her. The message was clear: Stop being rude. He didn't know why, but he felt the need to be kind to this man.

He needed to say something. Anything. "Sebastian, I- "

"Please, call me Jonathan."

"Um… Jonathan, I… we… the Clave would…" Julian spluttered. What were you meant to say to the supposedly-dead-criminal-smiling-at-you-like-you're-a-friend? I'm arresting you?

"You have to bring me to see the Clave, I know. Don't worry, I won't put up a fight. But first, I couldn't help but overhear you talking about a queen, were you referring to the Queen of the Elementals by any chance?"

How did he know? Julian looked at him surprised.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, we were. Did you know the book 'The Elementals and their Queen" was supposedly faked by friends of the queen herself? And- " Emma caught herself before she could say anything else. How dare he use such a trick on her?

"Anyways, it doesn't matter. We have to go back to the Institute. Come with us." She turned on her heel and left, with Jonathan trailing behind her. Julian just stared at the both of them. When had she gotten out of his grasp? And why was Jonathan so willing to walk into a death trap? He quickly jogged to catch up with the two.

"Um… Jonathan, I have a question, um… how…" Julian sighed, and forced himself to say the words.

"Howdidyouknowabouttheelementalqueenandwhyareyousowillinglycomingwithus?"

Jonathan blinked in confusion. "Sorry, could you repeat that?"

"I…" Julian took a deep breath. "How did you know about the Elemental Queen? And why are you coming with us so willingly?"

"Well, the Queen was a very good friend of mine. It's true, you know, what your friend there said about the book. It's all faked. The true story is… well, I guess I shouldn't bore you with that. And as for coming, well, partly because I feel the need to apologise and repay the Worlders for my actions, but mostly because… well, to be fairly honest, I'm looking for the queen as well, and I could use all the help I could get. Of course, there's a slim chance I'll be getting any and I'll more likely have to have my marks taken away, and…" Jonathan closed his mouth, lest the rambling continued.

Julian took a second to mull over his words. "Wait… Worlders?"

A little colour seemed to rise into Jonathan's cheeks. "It's an Elemental term for Downworlders and Shadowhunters. The Elementals have never really meddled in so-called 'Worlder' issues, and that's why so little is known about them."

Julian nodded. He glanced at Emma walking in front, who was obviously listening in on their conversation, but had not joined in. He lowered his voice. "You know, you're not too bad. You and Emma would get along really well if not for… well…"

He inwardly cursed his stupidity.

Jonathan stiffened.

"Of course. Well, I know many people won't forgive me. I am sorry, you know. Truly."

Julian shrugged. "I'm not making any decisions for the rest of the world, but you seem cool enough," he said, and then seemed to realise who he was talking to, and added, "Not that I've forgotten what you've done or anything."

Despite the latter comment, Jonathan smiled. "That's a start, I suppose."

Julian sighed as he looked at his best friend again. "I'd better talk to her. You never know, I might be able to talk her round; get her to be civil." Though I doubt it. Jonathan was not blind to the doubt in his new-found friend (well, as close as he was to getting one), but he nodded anyway.

Julian jogged up to Emma.

"Emma…"

"You absolute nut-head! If you ever pull that kind of thing again, I'll…!" She was cut off as Julian pulled her into a sort of side-hug.

'Thanks for forgiving me, Em," He whispered.

Emma gave up on trying to be angry.

She looked at him curiously. "So, what's he like? I mean, he could obviously have beaten me, but he didn't fight back, so…"

She stopped. This was so embarrassing.

Julian nodded. He understood. "I don't know. But he's different somehow. Not that I knew him before, but, well… he's actually sorry for what he's done."

Emma looked at him. "I just don't know what to think, you know? When I first saw him, he was a monster. Killing people, commanding his own dark army. My mum and dad…" She choked on that, but forced herself to continue, sneaking a glance at him. "How do we know he's not just using us? I mean, it's not like we have loads of people at the Institute, you know? It's just Arthur and us kids… Oh. My. God."

Emma stopped dead in her tracks. Completely unprepared, Julian almost fell over trying to turn while walking forward but Jonathan had much faster reflexes than that. He managed to stop walking just before crashing into the motionless Emma.

"Emma?" Julian asked, worried.

"Is it the first of August today?"

Julian nodded slowly, confused.

"Aren't the people from the New York Institute coming today? As in, Jace and Clary and Isabelle and Alec and the rest of them?"

Hope you enjoyed this chapter and I will post a new one as soon as possible! (Probably tomorrow)